The unfortunate
truth is that working moms often miss seeing much of their
younger children's development (first steps, first words, new
discoveries, etc.) Homeschooling, especially as children get
older, allows moms more time to interact and get to know their
children better. Many working moms are tired from their workday,
and the few concentrated hours in the evenings, when energy and
emotional levels are low, are not ideal times for interaction.
J. Michael Smith, President HSLDA

Cut the card stock into 6 inch by 6 inch cards allowing
one card per upper case letter and one piece for each
lower case letter.

Now have you and your preschooler print each letter as
big as possible on the 6x6 card stock paper

Now the fun begins! Using the Elmers Glue, trace over
one letter at a time.

Now your child can place the rice or the dried beans or
colored sand of your choice on top of the glue for the
letter A and so on. Let dry for 5 minutes sitting each
letter on the table.

Now find an appropriate room and hang up a temporary
clothes line using your clothes line and the duck tape
to secure your line to a wall. You may also use thumb
tacks if you have a wooden area to attach it to.

After you have allowed the letter to dry for about five
minutes, secure the letter to the clothes line using one
or two clothes pins and allow to dry for 10 more
minutes.

Continue this process until all letters are completed.

Suggestions: You can also make numbers with this process as
well.

You
may want to store the cards in an 8x12 envelope or in a
plastic container. Have your child say the letter and touch
and trace the bean or rice or sand letters with their
fingers. Then have your child try to print the letter on
paper using a pencil. This is a multi-sensory approach to
teaching. The child will trace the letters or numbers,
using a pencil then feel the letters or numbers with their
index finger. The final approach is to print the letter on
paper.

...An
Australian childcare advocate is changing his tune following
a negative study on the impact of daycare. Australian
psychologist Steve Biddulph, a former advocate of daycare
and other childcare options, conducted a study, which
revealed that daycare slows the development of the brain in
young children. Denise Kanter of the Morningstar Education
Network says the psychologist found from his own
neurobiological research evidence that "clearly -- in his
words -- suggests that at least during the first two years
of life, the brain develops ... at its optimum when it's
[receiving] one-to-one care with a loving caretaker, such as
a mother, father, or grandparent." According to Kanter,
Biddulph's studies challenge the pro-daycare "propaganda"
that has been prominent for decades of the childcare debate.
"For years we have said daycare's okay and preschool is
okay, and as they're doing more research into the actual
brain development, they're finding the opposite is true,"
the Morningstar spokeswoman notes. Unfortunately, she points
out, the public has been hearing that daycare is okay for
the last 30 years, and the tide of public opinion is often
difficult to turn. "So it's going to take some time to reach
parents and show them the new technology -- that we can
actually see what's happening within the brain and the
development of that brain, and that daycares and preschools
are not places for optimum development of children," Kanter
says. [Bill Fancher] Source Link